The Market On Tuesday

Have you seen the new poll that shows that the country's mood has lightened since Obama has assumed the presidency?

Reuters: Optimism on U.S. economy up: poll

This is rather amazing since we have plummeted to the lowest regions of the market and are experiencing huge employment losses, the worst yet, all this year. No one blames Obama, contrary to attempts by "you know who" to make the recession, the Obama recession.

So, after Soros re-asserted either heavy reality or fear (or possibly both) back onto the table yesterday, our Passover-Easter rally went off course.

We do know this recession will linger. Given the depths of its calamitous path, prognosticators that point to a longer recession have my attention.

We will soon be seeing another complete round of earnings results from all kinds of corporations. We know what's coming, but if it is not as bad as expected, this will be viewed as positive news. My guess is that earnings will be a real mixed bag. We already know that some corporations have remained stable or even slightly advanced in this recession. Others are clearly tanking but some not as bad as others.

Futures are down, but this is no longer an indicator of how things will end up by 4pm. Its a crap shoot.

Reuters: Stock futures down, eyes on Alcoa earnings

...investors braced for aluminum producer Alcoa's quarterly results that will kick-start a keenly awaited U.S. earnings season.